prawns / shrimps…I just imaginge them as water-bound cockroaches (in fact I think I’d rather eat a cockroache)

and Finland

The Silmarillion (Tolkein) – uh!

I remember ‘Organization Behaviour’ being a particularly dull too.

(Hi-Fidelity is okay, as was ‘Prayer For Owen Meaney’ although there are far better books by John Irving (including W.A.T Garp))

I’m kind of the other way e.g. I loved (and still do) Talking Heads (and Smiths / ‘Indie’ stuff) but neglected Iron Maiden, Metallica etc… as I thought it was compulsory to have a dodgy denim/leather jacket with **** badges /patches (and a personaility disorder)..now I love a bit of heavy rock / metal.

25 mins on the Calderdale train line from manchester victoria gets you to smithybridge or litteborough…plenty of riding (e.g. round hollingworth lake / under m62…hit pennine bridleway (north bound)…over and down chelburn moor / follow pennine bridleway over to watergrove res and back to station)… great blast

“The first shop was originally known as F.W. Evans Cycles and was located on Kennington Road in south east London. Trading from this site for thirty years F.W Evans Cycles built up a strong reputation as a quality cycle shop and in particular building its own frames and bikes.”

http://www.evanscycles.com/help/about-evans-cycles

Check Amazon for “Offas Dyke”…you can buy a strip map of the entire route (e.g. Harveys) or the National Trail books (one for North one for South) or equivalent – these should have a strip map / route description (assume it will be similar to the Pennine Way version which was very good)…BUT also take additional mapping e.g. at 1:50K , as if you do stray off the strip map or need to orientate yourself with other features then you are going to struggle.

Well I’ve walked that distance (50Km, 100Km might be a different matter!) quite a few times and don’t [usually] find that it too problematic…almost enjoyable…I just take ‘normal’ food…nice sandwiches, hard-boiled-eggs, flap-jack, sausage-rolls / pies…chocolate covered raisons, boiled sweets in a pocket so I can get to them without stopping…water, sweet tea, also enjoy a ‘treat’ of a can of cola…I prefer regular but short breaks e.g. max 5 minutes every 90

I remember the older Leon having poor rear visibility (when reversing into tight-spaces etc). I had an astra diesel…much admired by OAPs

It would have to be Stockton Heath if I had to live in Warrington again. I also lived in the Birchwood areas…all very dull and rubbish for walking anywhere (lack of pavements) but fine if you just need decent accomodation and are driving everywhere.

p.s. I also commuted from Chester but it [traffic] went wrong on too many occasions

You’ve already got them listed, and agree on Talking Heads…really wish I’d been old enough and into them in the lates 70’s or early 80’s.

finish-line dry…all the lube I need

I’ve stayed at Seedhill a couple of times (a few years ago) and enjoyed it…very central…good parking…it also operated as a teashop, so cake was available in the afternoon, also opposite Bernies cafe (if still there)…just in case a second breakfast was needed !, Only 100 metres from a pub that did decent food. Not sure if there is any bike storage though
seedhill[/url]

edit…the pub was The Wheatsheaf…food used to be decent..think they did B&B too

If we had known in advance I’d now have to push a pink pushchair everywhere…but as we didn’t know in advance everything is a ‘neutral’ colour.

my User Manual definately say ‘Clean dirt and debris from under tubs’…
2nd item on ‘Service Intervals’ table….(offer no further help on how to do that though)
(these are 2008 Revs, although the User Manuals is dated May 2006 – strange but I did see the courier deliver them to the shop last year, direct from the distributor)

Yes, makes sense…I forgot that you had to compile the apps yourself for each platform

Ubuntu up and running within Sandbox without any issues (well I can access the internet using Firefox on Ubuntu so that’s a start).

With Sandbox it is going to be easy to try different configurations…I’m already planning a KDE version.

What are the main differences between, for example, Solaris and Ubuntu…does software e.g. OpenOffice work equally well across versions ?
I assume there is a ‘standard’ that the various versions must implement?
I have a lot to discover.

Thanks all.
VirtalBox installed…Ubuntu downloading (very slowly)…

Scotish Isles ?

.where it says

To comply with Marin warranty requirements, Marin bikes are only available for instore collection.

and

Availability : Due to the supplier wishing to prevent internet sales and mail order, this item can only be collected in store.

same story for Trek isn’t it….

I imagine the truth is to control prices / protect their dealers…but they will suggest it ensures quality / support etc etc…

Bit vague…I’ll have a go – Jonathan Richman (as seen in Something About Mary)

…in fact I think I’d opt for a liquid lunch…a bottle of scotch perhaps

I can’t imagine feeling too hungry…it’s not like your going to look back and think how great it was.

and in answer to that question…

installing a Linux-based environment is possible, it is not seamless

and from http://www.linux.com/feature/60742:-

There’s no dearth of free-as-in-beer or open source and free software virtualization software. If you need to run Linux under Windows there’s QEMU, Bochs, Virtual Box, VMware Player and VMware server. As far as testing Linux on Windows hosts is concerned, Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2007 doesn’t even come close to being considered a viable alternative.

Why is Virtualbox better than Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 ?

Interested in that as well…I assume you can put Linux on a Microsoft Virtual PC

just found the links….
Comet price match within 10 miles…price match

Currys price match looks useful too – currys

…re-reading original post…if you are considering paying someone else commercial rate to upgrade it then I’m guessing that it wouldn’t be worth it…it’s going to take a good few hours if you upgrade hard disk and reinstall all software. If you can do it yourself then perhaps…

224MB sounds ‘odd’…I’d expect multiples of 128 so 256/512/1024 (i.e. 1 Ggb).

With 512mb or a 1GB RAM and assuming XP then it ‘could’ be okay (assuming running XP…or Linux!). I was in a similar situation..upgraded a hard-drive, reinstalled all software, added memory, added wireless (a PCMCIA wireless card, if you have the slot for it, is a much neater solution than a dongle).
TBH doing all this put me on for another year but eventually I bought a new one…benefits are it’s lighter, longer battery life, blu-tooth (love to use my blu-tooth mouse), USB2, bigger hard-drive…).

I’d say that if you can still get an XP laptop then perhaps get one…otherwise you want a reasonably well specced machine to run Vista….if you can wait we ‘should’ be seeing Windows 7 in the next year (think Rumour is by the end of the year)…there is never a ‘right’ time…

Comet have price matched (Richer Sounds) for me…think you need to find it in store locally though

Evans say £15 + £1 per spoke replaced so I’d take that as the upper limit and hope for less

Can’t help – but I remember a claim that Itunes will not be using the ‘best’ MP3 coding algorithm (if indeed you are using MP3)…and need to be using LAME (?). Hoping somebody can clarify this.
Better alternative….probably Windows Media Player (!)..but then copying files into iTunes just for Synching to Ipod.

why do you think you need to upgrade it ?
You don’t say what processor it has but my laptop of 4 years ago ran XP, Office (2003), Memory Map, and could surf the internet just fine.
Perhaps a hard-drive reformat / reinstall of your OS and apps would speed things up.

The hose on my Blow Joe Blow disintegrated after a couple of years minimal use / stored in the garage. Blackburn holding up well so far…think the gauge might be a little more easy to read too

wow – I didn’t even know they were in the UK (how long ?).
Bought ‘synthetic’ boots from them in OZ when travelling the world…they soon fell apart and they did a rubbish repair when I complained…

…although Tasmania had a certain attraction

Brisbane is SO different to Melbourne…which is quite different to Sydney…

I have relatives in the Brisbane area…the elderley one has always complained of the ‘unbearable’ heat of the summers there…(even before she was an OAP) …probably a typical whinging POME.
Personally I found that area pleasent enough in their winter but I would (did) only consider living in Melbourne (1st) Sydney…or (at a push) Perth area. Personal choice…

thanks …I can live with it…I think they are taking the pish a bit…especially as no facing (frame previously faced)..and they had previously fitted fork and headset…so I’m not really sure how much they really had to do.
I’ve had a word with them but left it as it is. They risk losing my future custom and the other people I have sent their way in the past (although I’ll probably just be careful in getting jobs priced up-front)

No wheel build (and no greasing of hubs).
Just to cheer myself up found that it cost £25 an end i.e. £50 for a brake bleed at Evans (how much!) so it makes it sounds [almost] acceptable

I had a look at Ed Co-Op – that’s if you buy frame and parts from them.

4 hours apparently !?

“Generally though it would be a priced job”

…that was my mistake for not asking….job has been done and it was actually more than £120..lesson learnt